15 July 2011 edition
The 15 July 2011 edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann is the 20th edition of the program to air on Current TV. The edition was guest hosted by David Shuster. No. 5 Guest commentator Michael Wolff discussed the continuing NewsCorp phone-hacking scandal, including the resignations of Rebekah Brooks and Les Hinton, Parliament's preparations for the testimony of Rupert and James Murdoch next Tuesday, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal's repudiation of the News of the World's practices, Murdoch's apology to the family of Milly Dowler, and Eric Holder's confirmation that the Department of Justice will investigate Murdoch's corporate enterprises in the United States. Guest commentator Eric Boehlert discussed Bob Dilenschneider's claim on Fox & Friends that the media is "piling on" with its cover of the hacking scandal, suggesting that journalists should "get beyond it" and "deal with the issue of hacking" instead, and the hypocrisy of Bill O'Reilly barely mentioning the NewsCorp scandal after having called the perpetrators who hacked into Sarah Palin's emails "criminals" who should "go to prison for a very long time" in 2008, as well as Rudy Guiliani's insistence that the media not "rush to judgment," but extend to NewsCorp and Rupert Murdoch a "presumption of innocence." No. 4 Guest commentator Alex Bolton discussed the continuing debt ceiling negotiations, including the President Barack Obama's desire to craft a "grand bargain" that might stabilize the American economy for more than a decade, Nancy Pelosi's insistence that cuts to Medicare and Social Security will not be included in a final deal, and the impending debate in the House of Representatives between Mitch McConnell's proposal to give the President unilateral authority to raise the debt ceiling and Jason Chaffetz's proposal "to cut, cap, and balanced the Federal budget. 4 4 4 4 No. 3 Guest commentator Craig Crawford discussed the political donations made by Charles and David Koch to the campaigns and committees of Michele Bachmann, the recent announcement that the Bachmann's had withdrawal their membership at the Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, which belongs to a larger synod that believes the Roman Catholic Pope to be the Antichrist, and the confirmation of rumors that Bachmann & Associates practices the so-called "reparative therapy" of "praying the gay away" while taking federal funding. 3 3 No. 2 Shuster discussed the 50th annual Congressional Baseball Game played on Thursday, which the Democrats won by a score of 8-2 as Cedric Richmond threw a one-hitter against the Republicans, while Kevin McCarthy claimed that losing the game was a fair price to pay for winning so many seats in the 2010 midterm elections. 2 2 2 No. 1 Guest commentator Richard Justice discussed the mistrial of the Roger Clemens perjury case due to prosecutorial misconduct, caused when the prosecutors showed a video clip from Clemens's 2008 Congressional hearing to the jury after Judge Reggie Walton had ruled the video inadmissable because it involved hearsay testimony, and the hearing scheduled for September 2nd in which the case may be dismissed outright. 1 See Also Category:July 2011 editions Category:Editions hosted by David Shuster 5 5 5 4